Bragging Rights and Incredibly Thankful

I like to do things that are challenging.  I like to push myself.  That being said, I absolutely hate to cook for people.  I'm a perfectionist and my cooking skills are... well, lets just say they are less than perfect.  For Thanksgiving I always get stuck bringing something like celery sticks and it makes me feel stupid.  I feel guilty sitting down to enjoy such fabulous food when all I have contributed is celery sticks.  In fact, this year when we were talking about food assignments my dad even said, "Why don't you bring celery sticks?"  I can't cook, everyone knows it and for years I have been the cooking joke. 

The first thing I have to brag about is my Mom.  I know everyone has Thanksgiving dinner, but not everyone has Thanksgiving dinner prepared by my Mom.  The whole world knows my Mom is a fantastic cook so I don't think I need to say more.  She normally spends days preparing Thanksgiving dinner.  Everything is made from scratch, EVERYTHING, but my Mom has had a very trying year, couple of years actually and I honestly wanted to help her.  I didn't want her to have to spend days cooking so, somehow I got signed up to make  pie.  You have no idea how overwhelming this was for me.  Not only do I have to make  pie, but it has to feed my family , the same family that has grown up eating my Mom's pie.  And I don't even like pie.  How will I know if it's good or not?  My mom suggested buying a pie crust, but I knew that wasn't really acceptable. So I did what I always do and turned to the world wide web for help.  Yes, my mom would have helped me.  Like I said, she is a fantastic cook, but I said nothing about her being a good teacher.  A little of this and a little of that just doesn't work for me.  So,  I went to a trusted website and studied it for days.  I read over and over how to make pie crust.  I realized I needed one of these

I recognized what it was.  Did I have one of those?  Maybe I got one for a wedding gift and it was stored in a tote somewhere.  Or, maybe I gave it away.  Or, maybe I didn't have one and the one I was thinking of was the one I had seen my mom use.  So, I went to the store and I bought a pastry blender. And I made Pie, 2nd bragging right.  I stayed up late and I made 3 pie crusts and two pie fillings.  I'm not bragging that I made the best pie or even mediocre pie, I'm just bragging because I made pie.  Me, I made pie.

And when Dustin went to capture the moment I dumped half the pie filling out of the crust and onto the floor.  Oops!

I love Thanksgiving.  I love this time of year and maybe it's because I have so incredibly much to be thankful for.  I am so thankful for the little girl that changed me and for the love she has filled me with,  for my husband, not because we are perfect together, but because we simply couldn't make it without each other,  because he makes me better, as I do him, for my body the same one I am constantly criticizing and critiquing, I'm healthy and I'm strong I have asked my body to do some really hard things and it always allows me to do those things.  I can carry babies and give birth and run marathons, for my family because each of them have contributed so so much to my life, for our jobs and our success in them,  for my home because it makes me feel just that, at home and because I scribbled I love Dustin on the 2x4's as we built it. and to live in such a beautiful place and for all of the amazing things that surround me.

I absolutely loved spending Thanksgiving weekend with my family!  We did some Christmas shopping.  Didn't get too much sleep, but did get some awesome deals.  And speaking of thankful, on Black Friday we took Brinley to breakfast.  We were sitting there waiting for our food and Brinley peeked through the blinds, stared out the window for a second and said, "I just love this world."  I just love this world too, but sometimes I take it for granted and I'm thankful she reminded me.  We got the 4-wheeler out and continued our tradition of making Gingerbread houses.  Such a great weekend and so much to be thankful for.

Because this day made me laugh

The other day I heard Brinley go outside so I went to see what she was doing and I found her eating snow,  looking like this...

Yes, that coat is about three sizes too small, but I was just impressed that she had enough sense to put a coat and gloves on at all, considering the fact that she is wearing shorts.

Me: "Brinley, what are you doing?  Come get some pants on, you are going to freeze in those shorts."

and her response: "I'm not afraid!" 

Brinley likes to pretend she is a "mean girl"  (sometimes she really is a mean girl).  Here she is walking around saying, "I'm a mean girl!"  And a shot of her mean girl face...

I feel so blessed to have this little girl in my life! 

Disney On Ice

Earlier this month we went to Salt Lake with my sisters and their kids.  We took all of the kids to Disney on Ice.  Brinley loved it and wanted to take Tinkerbell home with her. 

We all had fun swimming

 

and ate way too much late night junk food.

And for some reason Brinley wrote the Tooth Fairy a letter and put it under her pillow.  She couldn't wait to see if the Tooth Fairy left a surprise for her in the morning.   We tried to explain to her that she has to lose a tooth first. 

All in all it was a fun weekend.



If I Knew Then What I Know Now

I miss the days where the stress in my life consisted of stepping on a thorn in the front yard because I was running around without shoes on, or having to dust the railing and vacuum the stairs, or being forced to eat my vegetables, or having to come home from the park because it was time for lunch, or not being able to sleep out on the tramp 19 nights in a row.  (sigh).

Trick-or-Treat

Things in My Life That are Making Me Happy Right Now

* Caramel apples, caramel apples with walnuts, caramel apples with white chocolate and cinnamon & sugar

* Target!  Been there the past two weekends in a row

* Half of my house has been re-painted

* Spinning with Shaeli

* Making fabric flowers with Tami

* No more car repairs!  We bought a new car a few months ago.  No, it's not a Cadillac CTS, but it's a  car... WITH A WARRANTY :)

*  Questions from my husband like, "If I were to make you dinner, and you could have anything, what would you want me to make you?"

* Questions like, "Mom, where does bleed come from?"  Or, "Mom, where is the rest of the moon?  Maybe it feel off."

* Comments like, "I'm going to ask Heavenly Father for my baby sister."  or "Another kiss please."

* My job

* Good Friends

* Great family

* Thinking about Thanksgiving

* Knit boots

* Eating salmon and almost liking it

* Good books

"True love is friendship that has caught fire. It is quiet understanding, mutual confidence, sharing and forgiving. It is loyalty through good and bad. It settles for less than perfection and makes allowances for human weakness. True love is content with the present, it hopes for the future. It's the day in and day out chronicle of irritations, problems, compromises, small disappointments, big victories and work toward common goals. If you have love in your life, it can make up for a great many things you lack. If you don't have it, no matter what else there is, it's not enough..."

Congratulations Dad

Earlier this year my dad had unexpected back surgery that forced him into early retirement.  Last month my parents took our family on a little vacation to celebrate his retirement.  We spent three days at a  beautiful cabin in Driggs.

We took some family pictures while we were there, but of all people my daughter was not cooperating. She was grumpy, crying and did not want her picture taken.

 

We decided to try our 'little' family pictures after she had eaten and taken a nap.  She was in a much better mood and FINALLY a smile on her face.  I just love this picture of her and Dustin.

We have not had family pictures since Brinley was a baby.  Why you ask?  Well, looks like it's Dustin's fault in this picture.

Ok ok, I'll take the blame for the next one, but occasionally something comes out of Brinley's mouth that just shocks me.

And here is one of Brinley yelling at me.  Guess she isn't in that great of a mood after all.

And my personal favorite is...

I officially give up!  And now you know why we don't have family pictures. 

The rest of the trip was so much fun!  My parents took us all to Bar J Wranglers for a good laugh and even better food.

Mom and Troy had an arm wrestle.

Not sure who won.  Probably mom!

Thanks Mom and Dad for the great trip and thanks Dad for all those years of hard work!

The Circus

Dustin Bought tickets and took us to the circus.  Thanks for the date!

:)

My Dad made my day today.  That's all.